The ripple effect
by thedragon0405
Summary: 'I feel like I'm trapped in somebody else's master plan' she though. Good thing is that she wasn't alone. According to Dick, he knew 'somewhere where she might just fit in'. Follow the journey of Isis, as she makes herself a place on the hero world. Story starts in the 5 years gap and goes through season 2. DickGraysonxOCxJasonTodd. Firstfic please review :3
1. Chapter 1: Little talks

Chapter one: Little talks

 **GOTHAM CITY**

 **3:00 EDT**

Back to my days in ciudad del Sol, mom once told me that the slightest thing we do can cause a ripple effect. "Throw a pebble into a side of the ocean and you might cause a hurricane on the other side". Although I didn't fully understand what those words meant (come on… I wasn't even six), I believed her. Yet, back then, mom would have never figured out what would those same words mean in my future. Or even worst, she wouldn't even imagine what was waiting for me on the dark streets of Gotham.

Throughout the years, Gotham City gained popularity for its decay, for being rotten from inside out. It was folk wisdom; Gotham was a big Petri dish full of the nastiest human sample: the seed of evil and madness.

You might have some sort of death wish to voluntarily live here.

Of course, my sister and I had no option after mom passed. Aunt Mimi wouldn't move because of us, so we had to grow up in the big bad city.

So there I was, admiring the lights of Wayne enterprises and the nearby skyscrapers at the rooftop of the apartment building I used to live with my aunt and little Gabs. I sighted as a small grin showed on my face as the idea of Gotham being a beautiful city under the moon light popped up in my head. I guess things look way better from a distance.

"I should be sleeping" I though. It was Sunday and Gotham Academy started the next day at seven. I knew I would be a living zombie the next morning, but I was a girl of my word and I promised him we'll meet tonight.

And so, I waited, wondering the ripple effect this night could have

Suddenly, I heard someone landing somewhere behind me. He had such great skills; he landed so gracefully I almost didn't notice him. I knew exactly who it was, yet, I waited for him to make the first move but I got bored after a couple minutes.

"Are you just going to stay there and watch me all night or what?" No answer.

"Come out already, I know you're here" I said turning to face the ebony haired guy with the domino mask coming out of the shadows of my rooftop

"Crap" he muttered before he started walking towards me

Nightwing

Although I had been his student liaison her first day at Gotham Academy and had some friends in common (she managed to be in Jason's class, she was _that_ smart. Also, she turned out being a good friend of Babs), Isis and I were not close. I mean, sometimes our paths crossed on the hallways, so we smiled to each other from a distance but that was just us being polite.

Still, I have to say she had a lovely smile.

I wish I had talked to her more. The whole situation could've been less awkward. But Batman chose me instead of anyone else for a reason, so, as a detective, I had to focus and do my job.

Isis was abducted last year for almost three days before Bruce found her while patrolling. I remember coming back to the Manor after a mission with Wally when Alfred told us we had a "special guest". It didn't take us long to go down to the bat cave infirmary and find a certain fellow student laying unconscious between lots of tubes and beeping machines. Jason was sitting on a chair next to her, paler than usual, holding her life-less hand with a scared look on his face.

"Dude" Wally said below his breath, completely losing his chill tone after noticing Jason's expression.

"Wh-What happened?" I stuttered. Not quite sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"She's stable" Batman's deep, emotion-less voice took me and my best friend off guard. He walked towards her direction and continued "It was Killer Doctor".

"That psycho" Jason said almost on a whisper, with the nastiest angry face I've ever seen him make. Wally was frozen in front of the computer screen. He was with his head down, his back facing me. I knew Central City crime couldn't be compared to the nasty things that happened on Gotham alleys, but he looked pretty disturbed. "He…" Bruce interrupted the silence. His voice had this weird doubt tone, as if he was trying to choose the most suitable word for what was coming next "assaulted her". Jason looked down after he heard those words.

My eyes, that have been posed on the tanned brunette girl in front of me all the time, turned desperately to the screen where Killer Doctor's picture was showing. I slowly walked to the desk in front of Wally, begging not to find the toxicological exams. But they were there, and they got positive

Ten girls have been abducted during the last two months. All found dead on different parts of the city due to big doses of a new mutation of "Venom" (that green steroid that gave Bane his powers).

We already knew who was behind these murders. His name was Peter Sculley but he was better known by the press as "killer doctor", a mad man with a surgeon license. He already had a vast criminal record and he had been running around the country for almost a year (such a sneaky dude). But now he was in Gotham, and he was not going to scape.

Things gave an odd turn when he changed his modus operand, from mutilating random victims to injecting young girls with some type of Venom. We still couldn't figure out why, but he was trying to find a "match", or at least that's what we could assume because of the "no match" red stamp the victims were found with. A match for what? What was he looking for?

Batman and I figured that he was probably looking for a match to the venom. Still, what needed to match? What effects did this substance had on human body? With what purpose?

'I wish we could have figured it out before he found her' I said to myself, feeling the guilt fill my body.

I saw her on the library the day she disappeared. I should have insisted, I should have walked her home. 'I'm so stupid' I said to myself

'Is she going to d-"

"NO" Jason and Batman interrupted me abruptly at the same time before I could manage to say 'die', both sending me a death glare. I let out a deep sight in relief. Don't get me wrong, she and I weren't close but that didn't mean I want her death. It's just that all of the other girls died in a painful way according to forensic examinations

Why didn't she? Was she a match? Then, how come everything on her analysis seems normal?

"I know she is your classmate, Jason" Bruce said recovering his monotone speech, putting his hand on my brother's shoulder and sending me a glance from a distance, making me drop the analyse results on the desk and pay full attention to him. "But I don't want you, or any of you" he emphasized this last words "to say a single word to anyone about this and, when she comes to class, I want you to treat her as you always do."

KF, Jason, Alfred and I stared at him in silence for a couple of seconds. Only the 'beeps' of the machines could be heard.

It wasn't long before Jason exploited

"That includes Barbra? Will you even let her know what really happened or are you going to tell her a lame lie?" Jason screamed, standing up abruptly, tossing his hand. "She's her friend! My friend! How come you're not even telling Commissioner Gordon? Or the press? Does her aunt even knows her nephew is still alive? She has Little sister that must be suffering right now. Are you going to lie to them too? Are you going to make her lie?"

"She's been more than 36 hours with him. We still don't know the effects of the venom he injected to her" He answered without even flitching to his agitated protégé. "Besides, it would only panic the citizens even more now that the Joker escaped from Arkham"

"Again?!" Wally screamed, probably as a reflex. 'Way to go KF' I though while seeing him shut up in horror after the 'bat-glare' Bruce send him

Out of a sudden we heard a light moan. She was waking up, meaning the Bat would send us all to our rooms

That night, after Isis was send home, I told Bruce all I knew about her (not much by that time) and discovered a few other things.

She came from Ciudad del Sol with her younger sister after her mother was killed by a thief. His dad left them when she was very young, so the only family they had left was their aunt Miriam, who lived here. She got in the Wayne scholarship program and… yeah, we met the academy. She is three years younger than me so, although she managed to skip up to Jason's class, we barely saw each other.

I didn't get much into details of whatever happened next because I was way too busy (and excited/distracted) with my team. Everything Bruce said after they talked was that she agreed not to go to the press. Actually, she would say she got some viral disease and stayed on the hospital for some days to justify her absence at class.

It was so lame, such a bad lie. Incredibly everyone bought it and so, the girl showed up next Monday at the academy and everything was the same (except for the fact that Jason got even closer to her. He just doesn't know how to follow instructions). Still, I kept an eye on her once in a while.

But that was last year. Things had changed now. Last weekend incident couldn't be left behind. I wasn't crazy, I knew what I saw. Jason saw it to so…

"Couldn't get the real deal?" She said turning to me. I felt so jealous of her in that moment, she was wearing some baggy sweat pants and zipper-jacket (probably pajamas) and I was in tights and a mask

"Batman is busy" I didn't (completely) lied. He was busy… with Selina or some other girl

"Nice suit" She smirked. "So rumors were true… you're not longer bird boy"

"I prefer boy wonder" I chuckled, trying to get her to loosen up

"I think I know why you're here" She said in a monotone, cold voice. Her big, light Brown eyes looked directly at my masked ones. Arms crossed to her chest. The breeze played with her long black hair, letting her vanilla scent fly up to me. Her sudden expression-less face reminded me more of the Bats than the sweet latina girl Jason described and I was most definitely nervous. But, of course, she couldn't know that

"Make a wild guess" I replied, throwing my hand to the air, waiting for her answer

"You want to know exactly what happened the night he got me. You also want to know what Batman and I talked about because he will not tell you" A slit curve started to show up on her face due to my shocked face. She was in control and she loved it "You want to know why the examinations at the batcave didn't detect my… anomalies"

Isis

His jaw dropped for a second, he looked really surprised but gained his composure quickly. Yet, he didn't answer. He was just standing there, analyzing every single muscle I moved like a good bat-rat. I let out a deep sight, while trying to tidy up the mess on my head before starting to tell him what happened

"But to be honest, I don't remember much" I muttered. "It was last year… some weeks after turning 13. I was heading out of school's library and it was already dark. This older guy… Richard. He was there too, he wanted to walk me home but I told him I was one bus ride away from my place, so he left to his… Manor" I let out a soft chuckled, remembering Dick Grayson and the other rich kids I had to see tomorrow at Gotham Academy. "He appeared out of the shadows of a dirty alley and dragged me with him. He had his face covered with those masks doctor's use… he also had this tube connected to a vein under his wrist and…. The back of his head" I kind of doubted on this last part because my brain suppressed a lot from that night. "Just like Bane" The surprised reaction he had on his face for less than two seconds when I mentioned the criminal's name almost made me chuckle, but the situation was just too tense

"So you know about Bayne? Interesting, he's not a Gotham villain" He said on a warm and a bit friendly tone, trying to ignore I was giving him the cold shoulder

"No need. You might be a detective but, as a reporter, I also know how to do a research". I said while trying to reach the newspaper scrap I had on the front pocket of my hooded jacket

Nightwing

She took some steps on my direction and gave me a piece of paper. It was an old Gotham Academy article. It was a debrief that tried to correlate the simultaneous attacks of ice villains the fourth of July on different spots of the country. My heart shrink when I saw a younger self on my Robin costume on the main picture of the article. I was flying on the air, doing a front flip in order to land in front of Dr. Freeze.

The majestic way it was written. All the back information… those narrative skills… How did this person manage to correlate these events? Although the case wasn't decoded, this was a good try (or at least is was more interesting to read than the report the justice league emitted about this same topic)

"Great shot" I said, still looking at the piece of newspaper I had between my gloved hands. I grinned when I saw she was the author (and the awesome photographer)

"I know enough, Dick" she said my name so low, almost like a whisper. My heart shirk

"What did you…" In that moment I was sweating cold. 'How the hell she knows?! ' I said to myself, while trying to remember any possible moment I could have given her any clue. But I couldn't, we barely talked.

Every time Isis recalls that night, she says between giggles how priceless the look on my face was. I couldn't agree more. My whole body tensed, my jaw dropped while my heart beat raced and I had this weird vulnerability sensation that could totally be show on my facial expression, despite the mask. But, how else could I react? I was most definitely caught by surprise (and I was two thousand percent sure Bruce was going to kill me when I told him)

Still, what made me feel even more uneasy was that, when I did a double check on the short, petite girl; she was completely calm. Her big caramel Brown eyes looked at me impatient while she waited for me to react

"But the look on your face, I guess you didn't know I knew" she finally spoke with a warm smile on her face (which was excellent for me because she had been pretty cold during the whole conversation).

"Well… miss know-it-all, what else have you found out?"

"I could tell you what Mr. Wayne does at night, but I think those are old news for you" Well shit, she knew. "Still, you came for the answer to a different question" she said as her smile disappeared "First things first". After saying this, Isis, who was just one meter away from me, started to head to the edge of the rooftop. In that moment, I realized she was bare footed

"Where are you going?" I said a bit louder in order for her to hear me. I wanted to go with her but she just raised her hand, ordering me to stop as soon as she heard my footsteps. She stopped few centimeters away from the edge, exactly where the light of the full moon was falling over her like a reflector.

"The side effects of whatever that psycho did to me started to show up a week later" She said loud enough for me to hear. I only could see her back, but I could tell she was shaking… she was nervous, just as her tone voice. "I suffered high fevers and lack of sleep for two days. Doing my regular tasks was the worst punishment I ever gave to my body because every single muscle and bone I owned was on severe pain. After another three days, I could finally get some sleep. The fever and the pain were gone for good, but at a great cost" She stopped before wrapping her hands around her torso, letting out a deep sight while looking to the floor. "When I woke up the next morning, I didn't need my glasses to make my way to the shower. This was pretty weird because I was almost blind without them some days ago. Anyways, when I looked in the mirror I already had them"

"Have what?" I had to say after almost a minute of silence where she wouldn't talk or look at me.

"This" I heard how she unzipped her jacket. Slowly, she let it flow down her shoulders until it was completely off, revealing her bare back inked with a hiper- realistic pair of… wings?. My heart started beating faster at the view of her naked, tanned torso. I couldn't help but letting out a "wow" when she put her long, dark hair a side to let me see every single detail of the tattoo.

I'm not sure how much time I spend watching her inked wings under Gotham moonlight, but it might have been a lot because a loud chuckle dragged me out of my thoughts.

"Keep your mouth shut, bird boy, flies can come in"

"I already told you, I prefer boy wonder" I tried to sound relaxed, but the idea of being alone with a semi-naked girl on the top of a building under the moonlight was bugging me. "But I go by a new name n…ISIS!" I started running towards her when I saw what was she going to do, but I was too far away. When I got to the edge of the rooftop, she was already lost in the dark whole below. I couldn't see her. Suddenly, a _woosh_ and a dash of wind hit me, throwing me to the opposite direction Isis went. I fell over me back and when I opened my eyes and rose up my chin, a shadow covered the moonlight I was receiving moments ago. It had the shape of a winged being…

"You gotta be kidding me" I saw Isis winged shadow fly gracefully in the air before landing next to me without making a sound. She had managed to tie up her jacket to cover up her chest, but letting most of her back naked in order for the wings to move free.

"You're such a show off" I said with a grin, but she didn't return it. She just looked into my eyes, sending chills down my spine, giving me the feeling that what I've just seen was only the beginning

"Can you do… anything else?" I said almost incredulously, not sure if I was amazed for what I've just seen or scared for what came next. Although I have already seen them the other night she saved my butt, I have to say those wings were majestic (trust me, I still get surprised sometimes). They were definitely not as big as hawk-man's and they were missing the feathers, but those reptile-like wings could scare the crap out of any bad guy

"This is… new" She said a little doubtful. "It took me moths and a lot of t-shirts with the back ripped to control these wings… popping them out, hiding them, actually flying. At least I didn't need my glasses anymore." While saying this, her wings, that were fully open some seconds ago, contracted until they were contracted behind her back. "But then, some asshole tried to attack me and Gabs after going out for a snack" She paused and frowned, looking at nothing in particular

"I was not going to expose myself and pull the wings out, but I wasn't going to let them harm her…" She turned her face to the ground; letting her ebony locks cover her face "I told her to stay behind me when he took out the gun" her voice was shaking "I Heard the BANG but I didn't feel the bullet. One shot, two shots, nothing. By the moment I opened my eyes, the man was already running towards me with a knife. I could hear my sister scream my name, shaking behind me. I screamed too as the view of the knife approaching to my chest, I waited for the sting, for the blood. Nothing happened. Then, I heard a sound of tin falling to the ground. When I looked down, the knife was all twisted and shifted next to the bullets that were supposed to impact me. The man looked at me with fear on his eyes, but it was too late" She broke. Without looking at me, she put her hands on his mouth on an attempt to faint a sob.

"Isis" I whispered, putting my hands on her shoulders, trying to make her look at me.

"I was filled with anger. How dare he tried to attack me and my sister? I wanted him to stay away from her, so I pushed him… but he went out flying and crashed the wall" She said between sobs. I pulled her towards me and engulfed her into a hug. She hugged me back, craving her head on my chest while trying to control herself. "Dick… I don't know if I killed him but I swear I didn't want to" she said frantically, already shaking in my arms "I felt terrible. And worst thing is that, after I told Gabs what had happened to me, she told me she wasn't afraid, but how can't she?" I felt her back tremble as her wings started to fusion with her body once again, tattoos appearing again on her back. "I knew I did right when I decided to hide this… Dick, I'm a monster" she said defeated as I felt her warm tears pouring on my shoulder.

I hold her tighter, pressing my hands on her bare back in order to pull her closer to me. With her last statement, I understood her cold and a bit cocky behavior of the night. She was ashamed and scared for what had happened, for what she had done and mostly, she was frustrated because she didn't know what to do about it. She felt powerless and alone.

I don't know how long we stayed in that hug. All I know was that the wind was blowing hard, making her tremble in my arms while she craved her head on my chest and wrapped her arms around my torso.

The only thing I managed to do was hold her closer in an attempt to squeeze the pain away

I waited for our heart beats to run at the same speed before saying something but, honestly, I didn't want to let her go, probably because of the guilt or maybe the sadness she made me feel. Her life had already been tough and finally, when things were starting to work out, this happened. She didn't want this, that was obvious, and she didn't know how to handle it. Maybe I wanted to hold her for a little bit longer because, for a second, I saw myself on those watery eyes, on that powerless expression. Maybe I just liked the vanilla scent of her hair. I don't know.

"Isis…" I managed before letting one of my arms loose. Without breaking the hug, I managed to take my mask off (she already knew who I was and nobody else was there, so it was pointless to wear it). Then I used the same hand to raise her chin up.

She looked at me astonished. Our faces where so close at that moment, I swear I could feel her warm breath against the tip of my bottom lip. She suddenly grinned, making me feel the weirdest tickle on my abdomen. I immediately smiled her back

"Thanks" she said in a whisper.

"No prob" I said with a wide smile I didn't even know I owned, taking advantage of the confidence that had came over me "It's all part of the job"

"So now you know" a more warm tone in her voice was showing up. "So let me ask, what now?" Well, that was a really good question.

"Look. I know you're afraid, and I know you feel like you don't belong anywhere right now. But I think I know somewhere where you might just fit in"


	2. Chapter 2: Jason

_Author's note: I only own Isis, Gabs, their aunt Mimi, "Ciudad del Sol" (a fictional big city located somewhere in South America I made up for this story, idk if it actually exist. Translated to Spanish, it means "City of the sun") and (of course) the plot. Everything else belongs_ _to_ _DC/WB/anyone but_ _me_

 _Please review, I would appreciate it a_ _lot_

 _Love_

 _-Dragon_

Chapter 2: Jason

 **GOTHAM CITY**

 **11:00 ETS**

"…But I know somewhere where you might just fit in" I felt how his gloved fingers pressed me gently, holding his grip on my back in an attempt to keep my bare torso warm. I managed to tie up my hood so it would cover my chest, but it was a cold dam night, so I was shivering.

"Dick, I'm not joining your super-teenage team" I tried to say as smooth as possible, having a hard time not calling them sidekicks

"I wouldn't suggest that, it's too soon" Didn't he get a clue? I wanted to get rid of these powers, not embrace them. "But we can help you"

"Do you have a cure?" I raised an eyebrow, looking directly to his blue eyes

"First you have to know your body and what it's capable of before even thinking about a cure"

"Don't you see I don't want this? I just want to act as if none of this ever happened"

"Just consider it, okay? You don't have to be afraid of us, we're the good ones. Besides, you have nothing to worry about, by the way you described your new po-… abilities; you could take us all down without even trying whenever you feel uneasy" He smirked. "Alright Miss Santos?"

"What?" Why was he calling me by my surname? Why ' _miss_ _'_?

"Miss Santos…"

"Why do you keep calling me like that?" Dick's voice started to morph, it was distant and…

"MISS SANTOS!" Professor Martin's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, making me jump on my seat in surprise. It's almost been a month since my rooftop conversation with Nightwing and I still couldn't digest the idea of Dick Grayson being something else than the cute mathlete everyone on campus loved, the son of billionaire Bruce Wayne, and a guy too cool and busy for me to hang around with. The only way he would even notice me was if I grew up a pair of big monster wings. Oh wait…

Don't get me wrong, I had already figured this entire thing out after my encounter with the dark knight (and some serious research). But the mental image of him taking off his mask in front of me was constantly replaying, as the confirmation of one of my craziest theories.

"mphh" the teacher was clearing his throat, obviously annoyed, in an attempt of taking me out of the twilight zone. "Think fast" I said to myself, looking desperately to the board for any clue of what had been going on the last hour

"Only ten percent of the energy passes to the next tropic level of the pyramid, professor" I said trying not to smirk. His eyes opened up wide due to my answer. Whatever he asked, I answered it correctly. He let out a deep sight before he said "Just wake up Mr. Todd"

Suddenly the whole class turned to our desk at the end of the room, giggling. I turned to my left to see an ebony haired guy with some serious dark circles under his eyes and a messy, wrinkled uniform. Sleepy beauty had his head between his arms and, honestly, he looked like a mess, as if he hadn't slept for days. Still, his expression looked so peaceful while sleeping; it was almost a shame to wake him up.

Almost.

"Wake up, Jason!" I elbowed his side in an aim of scaring him. But I think it worked out way too well.

"I won't do it again!" he almost screamed, waking up abruptly. Some sweat drops were rolling down from his forehead and he was heavy breathing. Of course, I was the only one to notice the disturbed look on my best friend's face because the rest of the class, except of Mr. Martin (he was cherry red), started to laugh hard

"It's good to know you both have been paying so much attention to my cla- "The bell ring interrupted him before he could even think of giving us a lecture. Everyone started to get out of the class while the sudden noise from the corridor started to increase

"Jason?" I mumbled, placing my hand on his shoulder "are you okay?"

"I'm fine" he said letting out a loud yawn. I dropped my hand before looking directly to his dark blue eyes. He grinned at me. "I just need some sleep" If I hadn't known him enough, I wouldn't have noticed he was lying. "Besides, you know I hate biology" Yes, and all of the other subjects

"I don't buy it"

"Geez, Santos" he said before he chuckled, still with a sleepy face "how come you don't trust me?" he raised an eyebrow

"Dude, it's not that" I said picking up my things for next period. We were the only students left on the room. "You've been acting a bit weird lately" I smiled back at him. 'Poor Jason' I though while looking at his sleepy light blue eyes and the almost imperceptible scarf on the right end of his lips, the only left reminder from his past life. Something was going on out of school, but I just couldn't figure out what. It probably had to with his adoptive family or some inners demons he still had to fight, and I knew he didn't get along with any of them but, it'd been almost two years and he didn't feel any better.

"You worry too much" Jason said

"I can't help it. Besides, You can't fool me, I know you way too much" He looked down, picked up his bag before managing to push his tired look aside and send me the sweetest smile.

Maybe that was the most interesting thing about Jason Todd. Despite his cold-hearted-though- guy facade, he always had this look on his eyes that had a hint of danger and dash of hope. All combined with this sweet smile made me feel… warm? Safe? Idk, it just felt good. It was so great to have him by my side because, no matter how dark things could, he always gave me this 'I get it' look (and he sure did, we've both been through pretty nasty experiences) that always made me feel a thousand times better.

Sometimes, I wish everyone knew the sweet heart he really was, so caring, so funny. Nobody gave him the chance, he also wouldn't give them the chance. So I felt lucky to be part of the select group that could say they knew the real Jason Todd.

Maybe that was the reason why it was killing me not being able to tell him what had been going on this last couple of months. Did he even know what his legal tutor and step-brother do at night? Did he know about what really happened those days I got missing and was just playing dumb or he didn't even have a clue?

Still, the mixed feelings of guilt and happiness his killer smile gave me didn't last long after I saw a pair of blue eyes waiting for me at the back door of the already empty classroom

Jason Todd

How can I begin to describe this girl? Oh Isis, you've got me _loco_

I would never admit it but, since day one, she caught my eye.

I know what you might be thinking, "Oh Jason, you dog! You're just all about her looks". Well, that statement is partially true, I was completely dawn for that perfect tanned skin, her straight ebony hair and those caramel eyes framed with black glasses that grinned at me from the front of the class the first day she came to school. That day was the first time I stood awake the whole math period, I wanted to see her.

But there was more to her than meets the eyes.

We shared a lot periods and she sat next to me in almost every one of them because nobody else wanted to share sits with me, I scared the living shit out of them. But Isis didn't even flitch. Instead, she talk to me, shared her snacks with me… Even lend me an earphone to listen to the Beatles during break!

She had such a good taste in music. She had the brains and, although I didn't believe her on the beginning, she spoke six languages. Isis read like crazy and knew everything about anything (probably that's how she got the scholarship) but she wouldn't brag about it. Isis was a sweetheart, but she was also crafty if she needed too. She had this glare that could give Batman the chills and…

I'm missing the point. It happens a lot while talking about her.

'It's about time someone tells her' I though. For them, I was a guy from the streets with a stroke of luck. Bruce Wayne's pity case, the prodigal son who's only purpose was to mess around. Dick was adopted too, but that was a different case because he was 'so charming'. (Stupid boy wonder…).

So, for everyone at school, I meant trouble and only few would talk to me (under their own risk). A girl like her being friends with a guy like was too good to be truth, wasn't it?

Honestly, I didn't care about the rest or what they had to say about my devious ways, they were all spoiled, shallow children I wasn't interested to hang out with. But she was different.

To my own surprise, I found myself caring about what she had to say about me.

Time passed and her number of friends increased, she joined to the newspaper team, and became the beautiful girl from Ciudad del Sol everyone talked about. Still, she didn't stop sitting next to me during class (except for art class, she sat with Barbra). As strange as it seemed, we never stopped hanging out.

And that was so weird about her. She genuinely wanted to be my friend. She didn't pity me, she wasn't scared of me and she saw something in me that only Bruce did (but Isis was way better than him on expressing it): The potential of being great

We got even closer and by the end of the year, we already knew each other's back stories. She grew on me on a way nobody else did, she was my best friend and I cared for her A LOT.

I couldn't really tell the exact moment I realized I was in love with her but I think it was a few days after her birthday, when she got missing…

Since then, every single morning I saw her pass through the front door, a big goofy smile ran through my face. She didn't seem to mind but to me, it was kind of a big deal because I didn't smile much. Closest thing I did was smirk (at least in public). It was bit embarrassing yet I couldn't help it, the fact that she was okay made me so happy.

Actually, one of the first times I put on the Robin costume was to patrol the city, looking for her. She influenced a lot to the fact that I became the new 'Boy Wonder'

But, again, I would never admit this.

Btw… Did I mention she has never compared me to Dick? That's a great plus :D

So there she was, with that weird expression she has when she tries to find out something. I was dying to tell her all the awesome things I did with Bats. Tell her I was patrolling every night with the dark knight. She had to know she was right, that I was capable of making a difference

"You cannot tell her anything" I groaned to my inside remembering Bruce's words

Out of a sudden, Isis got pale. She holds her breath because of something she saw behind my back. Her expression was a mix of fear and discomfort, as if she had just seen a ghost.

'Funny' I though. That's not the usual effect Dick has on girls

Isis

"Can we talk?" Jason turned to see Dick waiting for me at the door behind him. He growled

"Jason, give me a minute" I mumbled, grabbing my stuff and heading to the tall (or at least taller than me… I'm pretty short) guy lying on the door frame. I felt like I was going to throw up. This was it; I couldn't run away from this anymore. Dick wouldn't let me

" No. I have to go to class" Jason said slightly annoyed, grabbing his bag and walking fast outside the room, making a loud sound with the door after tossing it. Those two couldn't stay in the same room for a long time without meaning trouble, they didn't get along.

Dick was already waiting with his arms crossed to his chest and a smirk dedicated only to me. What did he want? Was he really that stupid to talk about IT on the academy? I remember he said 'no pressure', that he wouldn't force me to anything

Then, why was he here?

"Well hi" I grinned, although I wasn't really happy to see him

"Long time no see" 'Somebody stop him' I though in annoyance while looking at his deep blue eyes. He was using that smile of his, the one that could melt down any girl. He truly was the son of a playboy.

"You're such a bad liar, I see you everyday" I glared at him, taking a few steps closer. "Do you really think I didn't notice you following every single muscle I moved this last month? Tell me, Did Bru-He ask you to do it?" The curve on his mouth dropped.

It was true. I had caught him several times checking on me on campus and the shape of a flying person doing acrobatic tricks between the buildings on my way home or during weekends when I got out with Gabs. It was like he wanted me to know he was there. So weird.

"I swear that wasn't me, you could never catch me" I gave him an 'I don't believe you' look with my eyebrows up. "Okay, I might have been around your place for a few nights, but Robin took my turn most of them…" He sighted, looked to a side and nervously scratched the back of his head.

I was caught off guard… a new Robin? That "was way too fast" It escaped from my mouth

"You know, crime doesn't take breaks so…"

"Somebody else took the mantle" I got even closer, then look directly to his eyes and send him a deadlier glare "Tell me, does Jason know about you and Bruce's…" I doubted. I had to make sure my voice was low enough "… extracurricular activities?"

"That's not why I came for"

"Then spill already" My eyes opened wide and my whole expression started to loosen up when I saw the elegant envelope Dick was handing to me. I opened it and started to read the delicate invitation.

"An invitation for tomorrow's night ball on Wayne manor…" I said looking to the piece of expensive paper then turned to Dick, who hadn't stopped looking at me "and you want me to be your date of the night" I smirked sarcastically

"Actually, you are already invited… as you are part of the hall of honor of Gotham Academy" he sounded a bit nervous, why?

"I could have received it on the mail" I crossed my arms on my chest, I lied next to the door frame, just as him  
"I asked Bruce to give it to you personally"

"I would have apreciated it if you'd give it to me with more anticipation"

"Sorry about that. Anyways, I wanted to give this to you because I was wondering if you wanted to go with me"

"So you do want me to be your date?" Was this even real life? By the look on his face, he wasn't joking

"Exactly" he said, making that deathly smile of his

"I was being sarcastic" I was trying not to sound nervous, but I couldn't fool the son of the world's greatest detective.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"To be honest" I sighted "I think you needed an excuse to approach me at campus because we almost never talk…" His smirk dropped and slowly turned to a serious face

"Isis, it's been a month and I need an answer" See? Too good to be true. He tried to pose both of his hands on my shoulders. "I know it's hard, but I already told you, my team and I…"

"I'm not joining you god dam team!" I said almost too loud, tossing his hands to a side. Luckily, nobody else was on the hall. Still, he looked kind of hurt for what I just said. "Dick" I looked down and sited before continuing "I'm sorry but I really want to forget everything and…"

"We have to know what exactly happened to you those days, Isis" He grabbed my chin and made me look directly to his blue pupils. I tried to lose his grip because I didn't want anyone to see me that close to Dick and get a wrong idea. He had a devious rep, with and without the mask, and rumors on this school run like wild fire so we needed to be sutil.

Still, I found this sudden closure oddly comfortable.

"But-" I stuttered

"Don't you wonder what causes you powers? What else are you able to do? Or what can possibly hurt you?" He insisted

"Don't call them powers"

"Isis. Out of the 10 girls Killer Doctor kidnapped you're the only one who survived" I let out a small hush, he was starting to talk louder and neither of us wanted anyone to hear this

"It was last year and he has disappeared…" I looked to the floor, embarrassed. I felt like. A coward but I really didn't want to do this.

"Are you even listening to yourself?" He was angry now. "Isis, there are two types of people in this world: The ones that do evil and the ones that see evil and do nothing to stop them. Trust me, you don't want to be in any of those" He sounded so frustrated. "You are the missing piece to solve this case" To this moment, he had a hand on each of my shoulder. He shocked my body lightly on an attempt to make me react.

That's when it hit me

How could I've been so blind? If someone could help me to understand what happened to me, if someone could… fix me, it was him and his super-friends. I didn't like the idea, but I was between a rock and a hard place. I had no further option.

"Okay" I said looking directly to him, giving him a small grin.

"Are you serious?" His eyes almost dropped and his body shook in excitement. He let out a 'YES!' before smiling back at me. Before I knew, his managed to run his arms from my shoulders to my back and press me towards his chest on a hug

"Stop it Grayson" I chuckled "Remember I could break you if I want to"

"Nah, cute little Isis wouldn't do that" He let his grip go but didn't stop looking at me with that glowing smile that could light up the darkest day. "I'm telling the team tonight. I can't wait for you to meet the-"

"Woooah, slow down your horses" I put a finger on his lips in order to shut his rattle. "I never agreed to be part of the team. But I'll accept your help to develop my…"I sighted "powers. In Exchange, I help you bring Killer Doctor to justice, so he doesn't do this to any other girl"

"That's okay for now" Grayson said satisfied

"And just like that, we're a team on a mission?"

"You could say so. Tomorrow we will be able to talk about this with more detail, assuming you say yes" Playboy Grayson was back

"First, you'll have to do something"

"And that is...?"

"You have to admit you used a Mean Girls quote on you lecture" He let out a big "Ha" before he leaned on to my ear and whispered

"Never" making me tickle

"Then, you'll have to look for another girl" I whispered close enough to his ear for him to listen. His earlobe rose with my lower lip and a sutile smell of cologne assaulted me. Although it was un-intentioned, we both tremble due to our touch and closure.

Without looking back at him (I couldn't let him read my face or see my scarlet cheeks. I wouldn't give him another reason to smirk), I started to walk through the empty corridor, already 10 minutes late for art class

"Isis" He raised up his voice, making me turn to face him. "Are you taking someone else?"

"Maybe" I smirked, turning quickly and head down to class


	3. Chapter 3: Not a date

It was almost eleven and I was just arriving home. I looked at Mimi's text on my phone screen

 _Miriam -Where are you?_

 _You_ _–_ _almost_ _home_

 _Miriam – We'll talk about this tomorrow_

 _If you wake me up, you'll be in big trouble ;)_

 _You – GN Mimi :)_

I sighted in relief. Since last year's incident, aunt Mimi has been all over me and Gabs, always keeping an eye on us, trying to keep us safe (almost as annoying as Bruce's bat-rats but she was sway less sutile). So I was happy she didn't freak out or grounded me.

Luckily, those last months she was starting to loosen up and things were going back to normal

Well, almost everything.

The street looked the same. There were dirty water pods on the ground were the few streetlights reflected. Symmetrical buildings on one side of the wide street in front the train foundations. Some shops and houses standing at the other side of the street. The sound of the sea nearby was opacated by the soft crash of the wagons passing by

I impulse myself to reach the hidden emergency ladder at the side of my apartment building and sneaked up to the window at the last floor. I stood still, holding my grip on the window pain in order to enjoy the view for a moment

Gotham looked like a light parade in the middle of the windy night. But although it was impressive, every night was always like this. Everything stand in front of me on a cetiris parivus state, it was all back to normal. Still, everything felt so different

Nothing surrounding me had changed; the only thing that defied the status quo was me. Nothing was going to be the same after today, "normal" wasn't a thing for me anymore. I was feeling the ripple effect of that day I decided to stay up 'till late at school and I hated it.

I quickly brushed out my mixed emotions before opening my room's window and sneaking in

I let myself drop to bed like a dead corps. Gabs didn't even flitch, how come?

"Why are you so late?" her sleepy, monotone voice made me tremble

"Don't scare me like that!" I whispered-screamed as my heart beat paced. "For a second I thought I woke Mimi up. You almost gave a heart attack". She let out a small chuckle before sitting on her bed. She turned on the lights and I started to take off my uniform

"Where have you been? I was worried. Last time you were out this late you…"

"Relax" I interrupted "They can't even touch me"

"You haven't answered" she insisted

"I went to Babs' place and then to the mall" I said while searching for the invitation inside my blazer's pocket.

"Oooooh, fancy" she said while grabbing the invitation with both hands "Dear Miss Santos" she softly giggled before she recovered her solemn tone "we are pleased to invite you to the Wayne enterprise's charity ball this Friday the… Isis, this is tomorrow"

"That's why I came so late, I wanted to borrow a dress from Babs but they just won't fit. Then, Uncle Jim gave me a lift to the mall on his way to the police office. Instead of taking the bus, I kept on searching for a dress"

"You didn't find a thing, did you?" She pointed to my backpack "What are you going to wear now?"

"I'll managed" I said calmly while turning to my bed, taking my uniform off to get into my pajamas

"I know you don't see it this way… but you have some awesome bad ass tattoos there" I turned to send her a glare before covering my back with my big sweatshirt. "Is it still too soon to talk about it?"

"No" I sighted "It is time. I said yes" As soon as I said this, her jaw dropped and an enormous smile drew on her face "Are you becoming a hero now? Do you need help with the name? The costume? Do you need a sidekick?" I pounced over her a put my hand on her mouth doing a big "shh"

One of Gab's favorite things about America was superheroes. She wasn't the biggest fan, but she definitely knew a lot about the main ones. And, of course, she was the only one (besides Dick) who saw the bright side of this whole situation.

"You're going to wake her up" I whispered, locking my eyes with my sister's until she paced. "I only accepted to help him to find killer doctor" I felt a stinging pain while saying his name "He's also going to help me to…"I doubted. 'Is there an actual suitable word to describe my condition?' I thought "Dick is going to help me to explore and develop my powers"

"OH-MY-GOD" the whole body of the little girl shook on excitement, enough to free herself from my grip to start jumping on her same position over the bed. I sat next to her and tried to calm her down

"Gabriela, look" I put my hands on his shoulders, making her look at me in the eyes and erase that glowy smile of hers. "This is serious. The only reason why I'm doing this is to bring that bastard to justice so she won't ever do to any other girl whatever he did to me. Also, they are the only ones that can help to find a cure… the only ones capable to help, to make me normal again"

"Are you sure they can do that?" Suddenly, her big caramel eyes got watery, with a worried look

"They might the only ones able to" I sighted, trying to hold on the small amount of hope my words had "You know I can take care of myself" I said on a more playful tone, pulling her towards me into a hug, trying to avoid her crying. I felt her small hands wrap strongly around my torso and her heart slowly pacing

"It scares me, you know?" she almost whispered

"Who?"

"Batman"

"Bruce Wayne is a really nice man. His son too" I said remembering all the times we met due to the Wayne scholarship meetings on his offices downtown.

"They both have a reputation, you know… with and without the mask" Her face, that was buried in my chest, moved her way up until we both looked at each other. She winked at me and we both busted out laughing "Just be careful, okay?"

"Relax, sis… what can go wrong?" I said before squeezing her on a hug before standing up. 'A lot of things can go wrong' I said to myself. I was so dam scared

I stopped in front of the mirror next to the window. I pulled up my sweatshirt and turned in order to see my wings. The black ink defined every single muscle of them, their smallest vein, and the most insignificant details. It looked so realistic, so…

"Hey Gabs" I whispered without taking my eyes off my tattooed back. "You're right. I do have some badass tattoos" I putted my clothes back to their place and started to move towards the window, letting the moon light take me out of the dawn of my room

"Going to the rooftop?" I turned to see my little sister; she was already getting back to bed

"I need to make a phone call" I chuckled while starting to climb up the ladder

"Up there? Who are you calling?"

"Boy blunder"

"But you told me Richard goes by Nightwing now"

"Who said I was going to call Dick?"

Jason Todd

I groaned to the sound of my phone bell. 'Who the hell is calling at this time?' I though. It wasn't late, but I had to patrol tonight, so every minute I had with my bed was precious

"What!?" I answered the call as angry as possible

"Hey grumpy cat" A playful tone I knew very well grinned at me on the other side of the phone. My sleepy eyes opened abruptly and my heart started to beat faster. I turned on the lamp and sat on my bed. I was definitely awake now. "Is it a bad time to call?"

"I told you I need some sleep" I pretended to be tired and slightly annoyed."But you usually never call, so this might be important" I swear I could hear her smirk after I said this

"Do you have a suit?" What type of question was that? I'm Bruce Wayne's "son"; of course I had a suit.

"Why?" There was a silence, then a sight and then…

"Pleasegowithmetotheballonwaynemanortomorrow" she rushed, she sighted again, calmed down and then, she continued. "Jason, I know you don't like to be part of Br-Mr. Wayne's social agenda but, would you go with me to tomorrow's ball on the Wayne manor?" 'YES ISIS, I would go with you to the fucking end of the world if you ask me too'. I sighted, I couldn't say yes right away

"You know I hate going to that kind of stuff… and wearing suits. So tell me, why would I do that?"

"Because you're my friend?" I listened to her in silence, looking forwards to play with her for a while "Come on, Todd, it's going to be fun" her voice sounded happy yet, tired. We both needed some rest, but I didn't want to hang on the phone

"I heard they suck" I chuckled

"Dude, you've never been to one" she let out a soft giggle and raised her voice, she wasn't giving up

"But YOU have. A lot of times, how come you now need someone to go with?"

"None of the things I attended before was a ball" she sighted "Also, Dick Grayson invited me. That's why he looked for me after biology class, to give me my invitation and ask me out"

"You definitely should have started there" I interrupted Isis

"I really didn't feel comfortable going with him, so I told him I would go with somebody else and" She was starting to riddle, making her cute accent notice even more

"I'm going" I cut her speech, happy on the inside

"Are you serious?! Jason, you're awesome" She said cheerfully

"Yeah yeah yeah" I pretended to be tired… Well, I honestly needed some sleep, Bruce has been beating my ass, so I wasn't faking it anymore. "Before I go, tell me the color of your dress to match the stupid tie"

"That's the other thing" Oh no "Do you have any dress my size at the manor?"

"What the fuck Isis?! Why would we have one?". My sleepyness was gone again "Are you telling me you don't have any dress? "

"Not for the occasion" she paused to let out a deep sight. Isis, you've got to be kidding me "I swear I tried to look for one but I can't afford it" I sensed a tone of shame. This girl lived next to Gotham's train foundations, a working class neighbourhood. One of the few places left know for being filled with good people, not filled of money. It was obvious that my working-class hero didn't have a budget to buy a fancy dress

"Ask Barbra"

"She's not my size, trust me" she sounded defeated

"You're not fat…"

"I went to her place after school to try some of them on but my body is like a ten year old's, I don't fill them in" I sighted. What was she talking about? To me, she looked pretty good.

"Nobody forces you to go, you could simply ditch and…"

"Jason please…" Why did she have to use that soft tone? I could imagine her doing her puppy eyes and wrapping her arms around my torso, engulfing me into a hug and filling my lungs with her vanilla scent until I said yes. 'Why was it so easy for her?' I though. That was one of the few things I hated about this "being in love" thing: She got away with anything she wanted so easily, it made me feel vulnerable

"Okay. Come over some hours earlier, Alfred will be waiting for you with a dress. He can fix it for you if you don't 'fill it in'"

"Alfred?"

"Our… butler" I mumbled

"Oh, of course" she left out a chuckle. "Wayne manor wouldn't be complete without a butler!" She laughted

"Hey! Don't talk like that!" I let out a soft laugh too "Alfred is more than that" I unconsciously paused and let out a small smile while thinking of Pennyworth. "He's pretty cool"

"I bet" She said softly

"I'm going to bed now, you should do that too" I said letting out a yawn while lying on my bed with the phone still stuck to my ear

"Again, thank you so much. You're awesome, Jason" music to my ears

"I know, right?" We both started laughing "Good night, Isis"

"Sleep tight, Jason" Those were her last words before hanging up the phone. I lied there in silence, looking at the white rooftop in the darkness of my room, not being able to believe my luck. It was definetly not a date, but it was a start. I mean, she wanted to go with me and she was really persistent.

The biggest smile was drawn on my face before closing my eyes in order to dream with Isis and her night gown. Of course, it didn't take long before something took me out of my fantasy.

"Master Todd" I heard Alfred's voice after a knock on the door. "Master Bruce requires you downstairs"

I sighted before jumping out of my bed.

Dinamic duo time


	4. Chapter 4: Catwoman's orange goggles

**GOTHAM CITY**

 **11:00 EST**

"Are you sure this will work?" She said a little bit scared as she held me tighter

"I sure hope it does" I said accommodating my long black locks behind my ears

"What do you mean with that? Haven't' you fly before?" I nodded. Not only I've never fly before, I had hidden this wings for a while and now I was going to cross the whole city with them (without mentioning the overwhelming amount of civilians on the streets). Catwoman squealed while I balanced my body between the edge of the rooftop and the void. She was saying something else on an angry tone but I didn't listen. My heart was pounding so hard it was the only thing my ears could hear. I felt that tickle on my stomach you have before getting into a roller coaster and I savored the gentle touch of the freezing wind over my legs and back. "Are you even listening? Kid, we're running out of time!" The lady on the shiny-leather black leotard squealed.

"Oh bite me, cat lady," I said before jumping in the middle of my recklessness.

I closed my eyes as I felt all my weight freefalling fifty floors to the ground. If it wasn't because of Selina's scream I probably wouldn't have moved my wings. That's when I propelled up and started to head to Gotham Academy's roooftp

"Show off" Catwoman chuckled after cameras started flashing as we started to fly away

...

'What a lovely day' I said to myself while watching the sun illuminating Gotham's streets full of snow. I checked up my phone, I still had 10 minutes left and I was only two blocks away.

It was a Friday morning. I didn't go to class because Wayne Enterprises was hosting an award ceremony for the scholarship students were, in few words, a bunch of kids from all over the country and I were going to be rewarded and given fancy dinner with important people of the org. due to our outstanding achievements during our time in the program. I couldn't think of anything less amusing than having lunch with rich strangers yet, it was kind of cool that they gave us this much credit to our effort. Besides, maybe I could to talk to Mr. Wayne about my… 'Winged' issue, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea, maybe he could do something that could remove this conditions.

It was all great until the clown king decided to crash the ceremony.

I was sitting down next to a kid from Metropolis, watching a promo video of the scholarship program. Out of a sudden, the big projector and the nearby screens started to show static. The static transformed in a shadow, the shadow morphed into a man. The man had green hair and the creepiest smile. By this moment, I was petrified and sweating cold as the image of The Joker looking directly to us was projected on a big screen. By the moment he busted out laughing, we knew this was going to go downhill

Oh no, he was back.

My heart stopped when the image got clearer and the mad clown got out of the picture. Behind him, there was a kid tied up on a chair on a room I knew very well. Felix, the head of Gotham Academy's newspaper (and good friend of mine) was a hostage of that idiotic clown and her sick girlfriend on the newspaper room. He was a big Batman fan and he always wore a shirt with his symbol under the uniform. Now he was wearing only that and his dirty pants, showing the bruises around his arms and the mix of sweat and blood running down his forehead.

"Are you Batman?" Joker said between laughs

"No" He stuttered below his breath

"Look to Mr. J's eyes when you're talking to him," said the infamous Harleen Quinzel, threatening Felix with a baseball bat already covered with blood. I looked desperately around the room and everyone was petrified, looking at the screens. Bruce Wayne was standing on the podium, looking to the ghastly images too

"I'm not Batman". Felix finally said defeated, as if he wished this statement wasn't true. As if he wanted, at least for a second, to be Batman in order to save himself from that situation.

"Then why… ARE YOU WEARING THAT?" Everyone screamed when the green-haired man grabbed Felix from his chair and pulled him up on the air

"Because, thanks to him, we don't have to be afraid of scum like you," He said solemnly, making the Joker get even angrier. 'Felix, what are you doing?' I though, Batman was right in front of me and wasn't going to save him at the moment

"Well, Felix, you should". The boy held on his grip started to shake while this mad man started hushing in order for him to calm down. "So you think Batman has made Gotham a better place?" Felix nodded. Before we knew it, The Joker throw him to the ground, letting out a loud "crash" of a broken chair. The transmission kept going but we did not see him standing up again.

"Before anyone asks me why" He continued, recovering from his previous exaltation. "It's to prove a point". That is when it clicked me, this ceremony was being transmitted live in every Gotham city news channel so, probably, all citizens where watching this…

"YOU SEE, THIS IS HOW CRAZY BATMAN HAS MADE GOTHAM!" he continued, getting even closer to the camera while Harley started to laugh and saying 'Yahtzee'. "If you want order, Batman must take off his mask and turn himself in" In that moment, I stood up, looking for Mr. Wayne.

When I found him, he was already looking at me and I saw something new on his eyes. For the first time: I saw fear. Quickly, his eyes turned to a beautiful young lady at the last roads (the only one apart from me who was oddly standing up), they glanced at each other before she ran outside the room. Who was she? What was going on?

"If he doesn't, everyday a dozens of people will die" The joker's voice made me tremble due to that horrible statement, making me turn to the screen again. "Starting today, at the lovely Gotham Academy. Because it needs to hit the rich for the whole city to wake up, doesn't it?" He started to laugh while everyone screamed things like 'my son is there' or 'my kids!' or even worse, "He must have also taken the building" "let's get out of here!".

"Trust me… I'm a man of my word" he sentenced, and the image started to morph back to static while The Joker's laughter echoed throughout the room.

It all went downhill from here, everyone was screaming, rushing through the room and Bruce Wayne was already gone.

How could things be so fucked up if everything was more than fine a couple of seconds ago?

"We need to go" the guy next to me grabbed me by the arm and started to pull me outside the room and downstairs. I was numb, I was being pushed away with the flow and I was okay with that when Felix's image popped up in my head. He was probably dead now and the other kids on the Academy were next. My friends were next. Jason was next… 'OH NO, JASON' I though before I pulled the guy's grip off my arm, probably hurting him because I still hadn't figure out how to control my recent increased strength.

"What the hell is your problem" He screamed but I didn't turn, I just started to run upstairs, ditching every obstacle on my way.

I started to run up the stairs, trying not be washed away with the sea of people rushing outside the building. The adrenaline, the recklessness, the stupidity, a cocktail of emotion and endorphins drove me to the top of Wayne Enterprise's rooftop.

I covered my face from the sunrays and walked until I stopped in front of the edge of the tallest building of the city, dropped my backpack and myself to the ground, recovering my breath, trying to digest everything that have happened.

It was chaos below my feet. I could hear police and ambulance sirens rushing throughout the streets, creating a perimeter around my school. People was being evacuated from every nearby building. Everybody was screaming, kids were crying.

I didn't have a plan, but I had to figure out one ASAP before it was too late. The amount of police officers and ambulances in the school made me think that whatever was going on at the academy was too big for the Bats to handle on their own. That is when I realized that, although I had been avoiding this topic for the last couple of months, I was the only one who stood a chance and I needed to help.

I had to help them save the Academy. The question was, how?

With that said I put on my hooded sweater, covered my face up with my uniform's scarf and I was determined to pull off my wings.

But before I did, I heard the metallic door of the door opening behind me.

I hid behind some ventilation equipment to see who was coming. It was the same young lady that Bruce glanced downstairs. Out of nowhere, she pulled out a leather bag and took a glossy black leotard before she started to strip frenetically.

'Who the hell is that' I said while sneaking between the big air conditioning fans. A piece of paper flew on my direction out from the lady's bag: It was an invitation to the ceremony, just like the one I received; the only difference was the name of the remittent. This invitation was for Selina Kyle.

My eyes almost dropped from their place when I raised up my head to look to the woman and she was already gone. How? Not even five seconds had passed since…

"Boo" she whispered from behind me and I simply squealed as a frightened cat, jumping from my place and turning towards her.

"Catwoman" I said incredously, unable to believe what my eyes were watching. It was her without a doubt. That tight, black, shining leotard that let absolutely nothing to the imagination, those cat ears she was fixing with her gloved fingers that hide the metallic blades she used as weapons, and those goggles…

It was definitely her, without a doubt.

"If you like what you see, you can take a picture, it'll last longer, kid" She said after a couple of seconds. I couldn't answer; it was all too much to my head. "What happened? The cat ate your tongue?"

"It definitely didn't eat your, Selina" I said while standing up from my place. I passed my hands through the scarf and accommodated the hood, making sure she wouldn't see my face.

"Watch your mouth, kid" Her soft, silky voice replied. "Be smart and don't mess up with a"

"Criminal?" I glared at her. She should think twice before threatening me, I wasn't sure what other powers I had in that moment but she wouldn't want me to use her to find out

"I prefer the term anti-hero" Her purry tone was getting on my nerves

"Why are you here in the first place? There's no way you're here to help the Academy" She didn't say yes but her smirk and her nod confirmed it to me. "Where's Batman?" No answer, she just kept her smirk while taking her whip from inside her cleavage. Suddenly she started to run towards the edge of the rooftop. I couldn't let her go. "Hold your horses, kitty cat, I want in" I pushed my whole body in front of her, blocking her way. She still didn't listen and tried to sneak out at all cost, but I kept on blocking her. "I can help"

"Kid, if you wanna help, let me go. Keep yourself safe," She said while pushing me to a side but I grabbed her arm and said

"I tried it the good way. You let me help or I'll go right now to the police station and tell the cops everything I know about Selina Kyle and how she makes Money with some cat ears and a whip". I glared at her. She looked for me for a couple of seconds before she smirked. Her light green eyes over mine made me nervous. She was analyzing my every move and she knew I was nervous.

"And how could a young girl like you be helpful" She tossed my grip on her arm and waited for my answer with her hands on her hips.

What happened next, none of us saw it coming. The sound of my clothes ripping from my back was followed by a pair of big black wings coming out and expanding, covering the few sunrays that touched Catwoman's face. She raised up her orange goggles to see more clearly

"Well, you don't see that every day" a soft, silky voicecaressed my ears. She saw my wings and she was oddly okay with it, not even a hint of surprise could be sent on her voice tone.

"Now, where's Batman?"

"After the Joker" She answered briefly

"That means Batgirl and Nightwing are on the school" I looked to the ground trying to analyze the whole situation

"On their way" She corrected me, with a tone of surprise on her voice

"Three blind spots" I hushed, trying to make up my ideas. "There are three blind spots probably the joker and his jokerized minions or Harley haven't found. You can save as much students as you can there".

"Let's get going, then" She stated. "Are you strong enough to carry me up there?"

...

"So… were you there for the fireworks?"

"What?" I said below my breath while ditching all the skyscrapers on my way

"Fireworks" she repeated. "The joker has all of the students as hostages and has placed a bomb on campus so-"

"Batman has to give in, if not, he's blowing up the whole dam school, I know all that. What I still don't understand is why are you helping them?" I said while giving her the cold shoulder.

"I could ask you the same, how come this is the first time you show up to help?" She sighted due to my lack of answer. "Look, kid, I've done bad things in the past, but nobody inside that school deserves to die because of a mad man's desire's, so don't judge me"

"Really? Because I thought you were helping only to see if Batman finally accepted going out with you to the movies" I mocked letting out an oily chuckle

"Watch your mouth, kid" She growled. "You don't know what you're talking about"

"Actually, Selina, I think I do. Why else would you want to help the kids of the people you steal from if it's not because of him?" She didn't answer; she knew I had a point. "Why would you do that for someone who doesn't show his affection back?"

"Don't ask questions not even I can answer, kid" Selena admitted defeated, not even she understood it.

"I think I do. You do this kind of stuff because, somehow, he shows his feelings back. He doesn't know you're Selina Kyle, does he?"

"He's the world's greatest detective, he probably does…"

"He has never unmasked you… on the literal way… because if he does, his moral code would force him to put you into jail. But he doesn't want to do that and only keeps you as a suspicion. He wants you close because he doesn't want to lose whatever you two have. I'm not putting on a label like love or affection because probably neither of you know what the is but-"

"I love him" I felt the struggle in her words, it was probably the first time she said it out loud and it most likely was as painful to say as it heard to my ears. And I felt sad for her because of that. "You're a smart girl" She said on a sweet tone, like a mom proud of a child. "No doubt why you got the scholarship"

"What did you say?!" Suddenly all of the warm feelings and the pity I was feeling for her vanished. She knew who I was, but how?

This was bad, this was really bad…

"Isis, as girls, we must stick together on this big bad city ruled by man" She calmed me down patting my arm with one of her gloved hands. "You keep my secret and I'll keep yours"

"Why?"

"Because I like you, kid, you've got the guts and-"

"We're here" I cut her speech, landing on school's rooftop. Ready for the action

"Here" She said while taking off her goggles. "Take this and give me that scarf"

"What? No" I held on the piece of cloth that covered my face.

"Isis, you're rusty, this will help you out to hide your identity" She was right, so I allowed her to accommodate the orange shades over my eyes. "Besides, I'm cold"

"They'll think I'm your sidekick" I chuckled

"With those wings, you'll never be somebody's sidekick, you're the real deal," She smiled to me before she covered her face and flee to where the action was

...

I flee as fast as I could throughout the halls, up and down the stairs, making sure there was nobody left inside the building. Catwoman told me backups were coming and the students have been successfully evacuated but that didn't mean our shift was over, at least not for me

I hadn´t seen Richard Grayson between the hostages, but that didn't worry me much because he most definitely knew how to take care of himself. Still, I didn't have the same reaction when I couldn't find Jason. Moreover, Nightwing wasn't appearing either according to Selina. Those were bad news. Where were they? Why weren't they back? What If they suffered the same destiny Felix did?

That's when I realized I couldn't leave the building without them.

So, against everyone's orders and with the image of Felix's body entering morgue truck, I rushed back inside a building with an active bomb convinced that those two were still in there.

And I was right.

On one of the halls, I saw Jason's backpack. When I picked it up, it had a batarang inside, full of blood. It didn't take me long to realize that meant no good and that I had to hurry up and find them both before I found unpleasant company…

"Hey, who are you?" a squeaky voice with a fake naïve tone I knew pretty well caught me off guard, giving me the chills. Fuck me, it was Harley Quinn

Nightwing

'We´re crashed' I though as I saw Harley playing happily with her baseball bat filled with blood. I was tied up with Jason, who was unconscious due to the beating and Batman was most definitely not coming to our rescue anytime soon. I never knew how much time I spent with my head down on that messy newspaper room with Jason's blood pond staining my uniformed knees, with Harley singing cheery song and speaking nonsense about her pudding, with the bomb's strenuous ticking interrupting my thoughts. I never knew how much time passed but to me, it seemed eternal. Maybe that was the end, and maybe I wasn't ready for it.

"Hey, who are you?" Harley's squeaky voice started to fade on the distance, whoever she was calling was outside the room on the hall. "Oh you sneaky girl, come. Mr. J will be so-"*POUCH* I heard a smack from outside and the sound of the baseball bat falling from Quinzel's hands

"Where are they" A female voice said between heavy breathing before opening up the door and storming inside but a loud cry and a smash prevented the young girl to give another step. Suddenly, what sounded like a fight started in the shadows of the room.

"Mr. J will be so happy when he sees the three birds I catch" Harley was starting to lose it between her gasping and heavy breathing

"For starters, I'm not a bird. Second, Mr. J let you here to die with the bomb" I heard screeches and furniture crashing the biggest shadow went up and down of the picture as if it was flying

"Who are you, then!?" Uh oh, Harley was mad.

"Take a wild guess" The girl, on the other hand, was talking smooth, as if she enjoyed playing with Harley while ditching her every move.

"You're not a bat-rat" she insisted

"No Batman logo. Tell me, Harley, where's your pudding?" She chuckled while coming out from the shadows, ditching Quinn's angry kick.

It was a girl, probably around my age with a funny appearance. Surprisingly, that wasn't the greatest shocker.

As soon as the light reached our rescuer, a big pair of black reptile wings appeared in front of me, filling the space between Harleen and us. My eyes popped in shock (and a bit of fear) because I have never seen anything like that, I mean, her upper clothes were completely ripped from the back! Not even the Hawks had those type of wings!

She turned to send me a quick grin below the shadows of her hood before, discretely, handing me a...Batarang? Robin's Batarang? How come she had this?

It was true, she was no bat rat but those goggles she was wearing were definitely from Selena. She had most of her face covered under the hood of a grayish sweater combined with a plaid skirt and a pair of shiny black shoes that looked a lot like…. Holly shit, whoever this girl was, she attended to this school.

Suddenly her expression turned into horror when she saw the boy on the bloody uniform lying next to me. "Oh no, Jason" she mumbled below her breath. So this girl wasn't only from Gotham Academy but also Jason's friend. 'That's impossible' I said to myself 'that would only mean that the girl with big dragon-like wings was…'

"You might not be a bat rat, but that doesn't mean you're not getting your bird brains smashed" She cheerily squeaked while picking up her baseball bat. "Let's get crazy" Harley's voice made the winged girl turn quickly and put on fighting position.

"I'm pretty sure you're already there" she chuckled before both started to run to each other. Seconds passed. I heard low moans, punches, and grunges until I set both Jason and me free from the cables. When I looked up, Harley Quinn was on the ground, pretty soared

This girl was most definitely strong

"C'mon, let's get out of here before it blows" she didn't even turn to me, she just grabbed Jason's body and started shaking her wings before storming outside the room. "I know a shortcut"

"How come?" The only way she could know a shortcut was if she studied here… Oh, crap.

"Just keep on running, you're wasting you energy" She screamed while heading up to the stairs, filled with broken glass and fallen lockers and desks.

"Hold on there" I screamed while rushing beside her. I impulse myself towards the flying girl, jumped between the fallen furniture until I managed to grab her from the Hood, also being able to grab the strips of her goggles. Suddenly, big black hair locks started to come out and her googles dropped to the ground.

"Shit" She groaned before stopping in her tracks.

"Turn" I ordered, quickly picking up her goggles that were most definitely Selina Kyle's ones

"He has lost too much blood and we're running out of time" her voice trembled, almost begging. She slowly turned towards me with Jason on her arms, her wings contracture until they were hiding completely behind her back. I couldn't believe my eyes when the young girl in front of me looked directly to me and I was able to recognize those caramel pupils, those enormous lashes, the tanned skin, the ebony hair, the heart shaped lips, the pleaded skirt… the wings. I was shocked to say the least. "We can do this later, but we need to get out of here so please, let me take him" She looked to the unconscious Jason on her arms (since when was she that strong?) and then to me. "Trust me, I know a way out" I nodded and rushed to the administrative office's rooftop.

"There!" She pointed to a nearby building. "We probably have few seconds left so I will start flying and you'll grab my toe up to the other rooftop, ok?"

"Isis, are you sure you're strong enough?" I doubted as I tried to keep my hair out of my face in the middle of the winter breeze, trying to calculate the distance between each building

"Are you sure you won't miss?" She half smirked and, before I knew it, she started to run towards the edge of the rooftop. I propelled myself and held her ankle. Before I knew it, I was hanging many meters above thousands of police cars, civilians and journalists who were probably astonished.

"You did it, Isis!" I cheered when I saw the building's rooftop was close enough for me to jump. She landed gracefully next to me and placed Jason to the ground.

"Just give me my goggles," she said giving me the cold shoulder, making my big smile drop. "Why hasn't the bomb exploded" Isis said while covering her eyes and putting her hood up again over her face

"Bumble bee tried to deactivate the bomb but she only had a couple of seconds left," I said while reaching out my communicator, reading Karen's debrief. "And a couple seconds was more than enough for Kid Flash to sink the bomb to the sea, where it probably has already exploded". Isis smiled on relief.

"Just… don't say anything, please," She stuttered, a bit ashamed with her face down. "To anyone, especially to him" Isis looked at Jason with concerned eyes

"After what happened down there, I kind of own you. You're very brave, Isis." I said walking towards her, trying to comfort her with a smile she didn't return. I sighted. "I won't say a thing, but I need to ask you…"

"Don't" she put her index finger on my lips before I could go on. In that moment, I heard footsteps running up the rooftop, camera flashes, and a helicopter nearby, many people gathered on the streets nearby and, most important, Jason was waking up. "Promise me he'll be okay" She looked up to Jason, who was starting to mumble on the floor

"Promise" I nodded. We smiled at each other

"Tell Batman to get that bastard clown for all of us" And with that, she flew away to the horizon.

"But we need to talk!" I screamed at her from a distance.

The paramedics came in with Commissioner Gordon and Batman

"You got him?" I looked up to my mentor

"No" his cold answer made me understand he was mad and didn't want to talk about it, and it was okay, we kind of had another topic to discuss

"Selina told me," Bruce said on a monotone tone while standing next to me with a poker face. "Did you see her-?"

"It's her, I was able to take off her goggles" I sighted without taking my eyes out of the winged girl disappearing on the distance. "What do we do now?"

"You talk to her"

"Why me? Why not Robin?" I argued

"He doesn't follow orders" And with that statement, he went to see if Jason was okay

...

"I'm telling you, Isis, whatever saved me, it had wings… Hey! Don't laugh, I'm being serious!" Jason exasperated from his hospital bed. He couldn't believe her best friend was laughing at him. How could she? Everyone on the God damm city saw the winged girl, right?

Well, Isis needed to pretend skepticism if she wanted to cover her identity so she only laughed at the things Todd said. "Harley really hit your head hard, didn't she?" no answer from him, just a half-glare. "It doesn't really matter how, Jason" she held her hand, trying carefully not to touch the intravenous. Needless to say Jason's cheeks were fire red. "The thing is that you're okay now. During the two days you didn't wake up I though the wors-"

"Hey" Jason interrupted her. "I'm going nowhere. Besides, we're both tough kids, we always get out of this kind of stuff"

"I guess you're right" They both smiled at each other.

"But, again, this girl carried me to the next building's rooftop without even flitching!" Jason insisted

"Okay, you can tell me more about you guardian angel tomorrow, when you go back to class" Isis chuckled.

"Were you going? Visit time is not over"

"I have stuff to do" Isis pointed to the G.A. logo on her blazer

"Just one more thing" Jason said, making her turn on her heels, waiting for what he had to say on the door frame. "Whoever saved me wasn't an angel. It was cooler, you know?"

"How come?"

"I don't know, she reminded me of a dragon"

"Dragon?"

"Yeah, that's how newspapers are calling her. I think it's a cool name"

"too generic" she growled

"Well, I like the"

"Okay, I have to go. I bet we'll hear soon from the dragon" 'Not in a thousand years' Isis murmured while getting outside the room

'I have say thank you to her" Jason answered but Isis was already gone, leaving a vanilla scent. 'Wait a second' the blue-eyed teen though before rushing to his dirty uniform laying on the nearby couch. He fanatically stuck his nose between the fabrics.

'That smell… vanilla…'

Isis

Three days passed. A new month begun, Jason was out of the hospital and Gotham Academy's director declared that classes would be held as always with many security improvements, of course. Every day, Jason kept on telling me that, whatever saved him, had wings and it wasn't Hawkgirl. I just laughed and told him that he was crazy, on an attempt for him to drop it, but it wouldn't work.

Apart from that, everything seemed normal.

I remembered sitting in the bus and everyone was watching that viral video of the winged lady rescuing a student with famous Nightwing hanging from her toe on their cellphones, yet nobody turned to double-check me. No one had a single clue, except for Dick.

He was going to look for me. As a detective, he was going to look forward to answer questions I had no answers for and I didn't feel ready for.

A couple of weeks went by, I barely saw Grayson on the halls on my way to class, and I was totally okay with it. He probably understood that the incident was something that would only happen once in a blue moon and decided to leave it there.

In that time I was naïve enough to even consider that the son of the world greatest detective would simply let something like this go.

One morning, I opened my locker door before a strange paper fall from one of the shelves. It was hand written and it said:

" _Your_ _Roof_ _top. 300hs. we need to talk – N."_


	5. Chapter 5: What's the dinosaur for?

**GOTHAM CITY**

 **20:30 EST**

"Gracefully, Miss Santos, like a… swam" Alfred held the short, petite brunette from falling from her high heels. Isis felt dumb, like a new born deer giving its first steps, she didn't only felt out of her element on those fancy clothes, the whole situation of 'power exploration' at the bat cave was definitely overwhelming her

"It's ok, thanks Alfred… and please, call me Isis" She send him a small smile he quickly returned.

"I probably should have up picked something else…"

"No!" She interrupted her. "Everything is great, I love the color and you have a great taste… pretty surprising, I must admit" She smiled pleased with her arms crossed to her chest, waiting for the suited Butler to soak her ears on his refined words and British accent.

"I'm glad you liked it, Master Todd told me black was your 'happy color'" they both laughed as Alfred quoted Isis' exact same words. "Besides, the fabric on the back covers the tattoos perfectly"

"wha…" Isis mumbled as she started to sweat cold. How did he know about her…?

'He must be involved on the Bat-gang. Go figure…' she said to herself

"Your secret is safe with me" Alfred put his hand on her shoulder and send her a reassuring smile. She knew he could be trusted, he didn't blow the whistle about Bruce or any of his… allies (?) in any of these years… so her's was perfectly safe.

"I only wish I could make justice to this dress" she sighted, making a little pose in front of the mirror. "I feel like a monkey wearing a silk dress"

"Stop taking the Mikey out of yourself, Miss Isis" he looked to the brunette's reflection on the mirror and crossed his sight with her caramel pupils. "I'm certainly sure master Todd will be happy to see you" he started heading outside the guest room, making Isis turn nervously, making her feel a tick on her stomach as when something is forgotten…

"Master Todd..." she said below her breath, remembering her best friend and date for the night. "Jason!" she said a-bit-too loud. 'Crap, he must be already waiting for me and I'm not done yet' she though

"Shall I call Master Todd?" Penyworth insisted. She totally forgot the makeup Aunt Mimi gave her before leaving home but had no idea how to use it

"Has Barbra Gordon arrived?" this answer puzzled Alfred, yet, he had to answer.

"With the commissioner, yes. May I ask why?"

"Alfred, tell Jason to wait a bit more"

"As you wish, Miss Santos but, the ball has already started" He said before leaving the guest's room

Isis sighted before managing to run towards her phone

 _You: Baaabs SOS_

 _Barbra G.: Where's u? Party just started_

 _You: Somewhere in the manor. I'm not done and I need help with make up_

 _Barbra G.: u.u Wtf Where?_

 _You: Idk this place is huge!_

 _Barbra G.: Take a pic of the room. Be there in 5_

She took a deep breath, relieved. Babs was on her way

Isis

"Can I ask how you managed to find my room in this maze?" I opened the door to a flawless Barbra, with her hair on a braid and her purple gown falling gracefully below her knees

"Well, hey, you look beautiful too, Isis" she tried to avoid the subject but didn't work.

"You didn't answer"

"Well… Dick and I had an… intense make out session here some time ago" I looked down immediately as I felt the heat coming up my cheeks. I stood there for a second remembering his embrace, the smell of his cologne and the delicate touch of his lips over my earlobe. That was the first time I wondered how his lips would feel. Were his kisses sweet as the look on his eyes? As intense as his embrace? Or maybe they were wild… Would a kiss of him feel as oddly good as his hugs felt? "Good thing its over" Barbra's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Anyways" She continued, grabbing me by the hand, making me sit down on the faux fur couch. "Let's get started"

"Are there too many people?" I closed my eyes before some brushes started to move all over my face

"Full house, Isis" She chuckled after noticing my scared expression. "Relax! Paparazzis won't hunt you or your partner…. By the way, Dick told me you invited someone…" Great, Dick and her still talked. Was I that naïve to even think I stood a chance? Guys like Dick only date girls like Barbra…

"Good to know, I hate pictures" I brushed those thoughs out. "Yeah, Jason must be really mad that I'm making him wait for so-"

"Jason?" she almost squealed, interrupting me "Jason Todd!?"

"H-He's Mr. Wayne's guard, right? I thought it wasn't a big deal…" I opened an eye to see his socked expression. "Babs, I know he's your least favorite person but he's really… not what you think" I smiled to the ground before turning to the unpleased red-head. "He's a good friend"

"Are you sure it's just that?" I raised an eyebrow before she continued doing my make-up "I know bad guys are really appealing, especially to girls your age…"

"What? I'm only three years younger" I almost screamed

"I have the wisdom that comes with senior year" we both burst out laughing, she wasn't a senior yet. "But that's not the point, Isis" She sighted. Her solemn tone of her words made me think all this nonsense was serious "I see how he looks at you, how he behaves around you. I know you guys are close… but I think he wants more…you know, and that ain't good" 'This must be a really bad joke' I said to myself. "What I'm trying to say is that he means trouble. He is not good to you… or anyone. He is too conflicted, too toxic"

"That's a bit unfair, Barbra… you know th-"

"He isn't the only one who cares about you" she smiled at me "You're like the Little sister that has no clue with make up or boys I wish I never have" I grinned back at her

"Trust me, he doesn't see me that way. Indeed, I don't think he's even capable of falling for someone" She only smiled to me again before a knock on the door made us turn our heads to the last part of the refined decorated guests room

"Speaking of the devil" she rolled her eyes before standing up and walking towards the door "Oh, Isis" she suddenly stopped and turned to face me "pull your hair back, that way, they won't see the wings". In that moment my heart shirkend and my eyes opened wide. My body numbed. I tried to say something, but I couldn't find my voice. Who else knew!?

"Dick told me" Oh, stupid Grayson, I though, unable to speak a word "I had no clue and I can't even imagine what you've been through this last couple of months, you're really brave for coming" I still didn't answer "Relax, Isis, it will be fine" She send me a quick grinn

"Ok" I smiled, happy of having someone else by my side now in this weird situation

"Before I open the door…" she doubted "were you ever going to tell me?"

" You were going to be the next to know" I lied "And, you also have some explaining to do" The fact that she knew meant that she was also involved on the super hero gig…

"We'll talk about that in a while, k?"

Jason

"You're late" An annoying ginger 'greeted' me on the door.

"She's the one who was late" I growled while tying up my black tie, trying to enter the room "Where is Isis, is she ready already?" I managed to lose Barbra's grip on the door, storming inside the room. It wasn't enough she was forcing me to come to this charity ball, she also had to make me wait. I was mad, for saying the least, but everything washed away when I saw her on the night gown. My fantasies stayed short compared to the beautiful girl smiling shily at me

'I'm a lucky son of a bitch' I whispered to myself

"Sorry for coming late. I had a lot of work and I missed the bus". Her hair, her lips, her slim body covered with the delicate black gown, the smell of vanilla, her big eyes grinning at me. She was definitely saying something, but I just wasn't paying attention

"Stop drooling, Jason, you're going to ruin the suit" I growled at Barbra, who was already heading outside the door. "I'll see you downstairs, Isis" they both waved their hands goodbye before the sweet Latina on the black dress got closer to me, tangling her fingers with my messy tie

"You suited up" she chuckled, fixing the bow

"I'm not the only one" I said while I felt the heat running up to my cheeks. "Ready to go?"

"I feel like I'm going to throw up, or fall from these shoes" she sighted. I didn't understand why she was so nervous. It was just a stupid ball, right?. "Let's go" she started to walk firmly outside the door

I let out a deep sight before rushing after her.

Richard

My cheeks were swollen for the smiling. It had already been half an hour of greeting guests, investors, plastic, flirty investor's daughters and I was already feeling exhausted.

I desperately moved my eyes across the room to find Isis, Bruce, Alfred, Zee, Conner, any of my friends but it was in vain, nobody could save me from this sea of people, the soft jazz music, the champagne, the chandelier, the dances, the suit and the tie.

Suddenly, I felt and odd sensation rushing through my body before Miss M said "Linked established"

Conner: I'm next to the canapé table and I can still hear your heart beat. Relax.

M'gann: Dick, are you sure is she showing up?

Barbra: She's already heading down, but…

Zatanna: The plan is running out perfectly, Dick. _Zatanna cheered._ The whole city press is here so we won't have to worry about any sneaky photographer taking pics of our winged friends

M'gann: Bruce is attending his guests so he won't be on the batcave

Conner: And there is no way Jason is showing up

Barbra: Dick, about that…

Dick: What happened, Barbra?

Barbra: Uhm… what did she tell you exactly after she rejected you

Dick: She didin't reject m-… that's not the point, what happened, Babs?

"See it youtself" Zatanna's voice snapped me out of the link. She was in front of me, with her backless yellow dress flowing until the floor and her hair tied up. The blue eyes of the magician were posed on something in the distance, close to the front stairs. It didn't take me long to realize everyone in the room was looking at the exact same thing in complete silence.

What was going on? I though while making my way there, leaving Zee behind. As I advanced, whispers started to flow around the room. I could hear camera flashes and one of the young investor's daughters who was flirting with me a while ago said "Who the hell is that?" below her breath

That's when I saw her

Her tanned figure was covered with a delicate black dress that was shorter on the front and longer in the back, showing her long legs. Her heart-shaped lips were tinted with red and her black locks flowed down covering her back, framing her big caramel-brown eyes. She was breathtaking. There was no other way to describe the beautiful being that was making her way down the stairs.

I swear, she should go to school like this everyday

I felt like I needed to get closer, to smell her vanilla scent, to at least say hi to her… but the sea of people didn't let me.

Suddenly, when a figure of someone I knew too well rushed and approached her, I understood that all the concussion wasn't exactly for her but for her companion. Isis smiled at him while he placed his hand on his back, giving her confidence to go down a bit faster, despite of the excessive amount of flashlight

'Jason, you lucky son of a bitch' I though as he entered the room with the cockiest smirk and the most beautiful girl in the room just for him; as if he was the fucking King of the ball.

 _Who is that?_

 _Is that Jason Todd?_

 _The boy from the streets?_

 _He's so cute_

 _Who's the babe?_

 _She's the newspaper girl_

 _The Wayne scholarship student_

 _She looks gorgeous_

 _What?! She definitely has no class… she can't even walk on those shoes!_

"Oh shut up, you're just jealous" I said loud enough for the click next to me to hear and shut up

Suddenly, I felt a firm hand on my shoulder, taking me out of my thoughts. I could hear the band playing again, people chatting and the camera flashes slowly pacing and before I knew it, I was already walking with Bruce to approach Isis and Jason.

Isis was feeling whelmed due to the undesirable attention she and his partner received. She didn't know which question answer first, where to turn or where to hide. She felt like drowning inside swirl of paparazzis and camera flashes on those stairs that seemed eternal. She felt numb; she only heard White sound and everything started to run in slow motion.

"Jason Todd and Isis Santos" Isis felt her best friend's hand dragging her outside the crowd and inside the ball, next to the champagne table.

"Thanks" she sighted in relief. Jason and her shared a smile before he passed her a champagne glass. "I though we wouldn't make it" she chuckled

"Neeh, those are just clowns" He smirked as he drank his whole glass from one zip and reached another

"IKR. They're a shame to the profession" she crossed her arms nd glared the so called reporters from a distance

"What is the whole city press doing here in the first place? Isn't there anything else to write about?" he growled

"That's the problem! There is a lot they could write about. Gotham streets are screaming but they just won't listen. Instead of informing people of what's going on in the streets…"

"They'll have our beautiful faces on first pages tomorrow morning!" They both started to laugh

"Imagine tomorrow's tabloids: 'Bruce Wayne's prodigal son makes first appearance in society" she took a first zip of his glass between giggles while Jason swalowed what was probably his fourth one. "That's so fucked up" she sighted

"Explain yourself, Santos" Jason send her a quick smirk

"This is all a curtain to hide how rotten Gotham really is, but they won't be able to hide the smell. Someone on Gotham daily will eventually realize that journalism is about printing what someone else doesn't want printed. The rest is just… public relations. That's when there will be an actual change" Jason loved when Isis talked about what she loved, journalism, she enjoyed the glow on her face when she talked about something that passionate her. But he couldn't let that show; he had a cover to pull off

"You're so naive" Jason mocked as she softly elbowed his side. "Hey!" he complained. "I was just trying to say… that's too intense for so early in the evening" he said while replacing her already empty glass of champagne for a new one. "Just relax and lets cheers… to this insipid charity ball"

"Yeah" she took a big zip before looking around the room, searching for Dick or any suspicious activity. She couldn't avoid feeling the tickle on her stomach and the immediate sense of regret, but she was already there and there was no way back. "You were right, Jason, despite the underage drinking, this party totally sucks"

"Good to know you too are having a good time" A voice she knew pretty well greeted her and was about to approach her from behind. 'Crap' she muttered as she saw Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson coming on her direction

Isis

"You didn't tell me you were coming" Bruce said to his guard. Meanwhile, I was trying as hard as I could not to look at Dick, his perfect messy hair or his perfect suit.

"You didn't ask" Jason gave him the cold shoulder, trying to grab another glass of champaign but Bruce didn't allow him and send him a glare. Dick didn't take hos eyes off me and remained silent, making my heart beat race even more. "I'm glad you accepted our invitation" the billionaire turned to me and send me a warm smile I quickly returned.

"Thank you for inviting me, Mr. Wayne"

"Please, call me Bruce" he grabbed my hand and made me shake his. "How's the academy?"

"Its doing well". As boring as usual, I mean, nothing happened but I preferred that a million times over a second joker attack. "just a lot of work at the newspaper"

"I had the opportunity to read some of you work. Tell me, how do you manage to make such an enjoyable piece of writing and still cover all the details of the news?" 'omg billionaire Bruce Wayne reads my stuff' I was feeling starstruck

"Well… I always like to think of journalism as a detective work. At the end of the day, craving for the truth is what we both are, what we both do". He read between lines and send me a knowing glance that didn't go unnoticed by our two companions. He probably did it on purpose

"Jason, there are some people I want you to meet. It won't take long"Bruce interrupted the silence

"What about my-"Jason protested, but before he could even say my name, Dick jumped between the three of us, holding my hand in front of his angry step-brother and a smiling Bruce.

"Isis, would you like to dance?" Blue eyes meet brown. I could feel my body tremble as he made a little reverence. He didn't even wait for my answer, Dick just drove me with his hand on my back to the dance floor.

"You're not moving" Dick laughted

"Everybody is looking at us" I whispered on his ear but he just chuckled again, he was obviously enjoying the attention. "Sorry, it's just that whole situation makes me feel-

"Whelmed?" he interrupted, moving faster through the dance floor

"I think the word is overwhe-"

"Noope!" he pulled me a bit closer. "It's the perfect word between. Jason was overwhelmed, Bruce was underwhelmed, I thought I was the only one feeling whelmed"

"You say really strange things, Richard" I chuckled. He made me turn and then pulled me back towards him. Suddenly we had more space, the music was lower, there was less light, no crowd. I stopped dancing when I found myself on a dark, empty hall on the manor. "You're also sneaky" I turned to my suited, blue-eyed partner.

"C'mon!" he whispered before taking me by the hand and taking me to a big, fancy library. He stopped in front of one of the shelves and started to look for something.

"A secret door behind the shelf, opened only by moving a book" I chuckled while sitting on the mahogany desk. "Isn't that a little bit too…"

"Cliché? Yeah" he smirked as the shelf started to move, showing up a dark corridor that led to some stairs. "And you haven't seen the rest of the manor"

"Well, I'm spending a lot more time in here, aren't I? Maybe I could get a tour" 'where was all this flirt and confidence coming from?' I said to myself.

"You got a deal" He send me one of his killing smiles before rushing down the stairs. I soon followed him, with the sound of the shelves coming back to their place behind me. Suddenly, he stopped in front of a metallic door and turned to me. It was really dark, but I could still see the serious look on his blue eyes. "What you're about to see; only a few have. So-"

"C'mon, bird boy. As If I would say anything" I shut him up and walked to the door.

I would be lying if I say I wasn't surprised. I would be lying If I affirmed that I've seen or imagined anything like the batcave. I could be called a bit fat liar if I told you the million screens, the vaults carrying old costumes, the file shelves, the gags, the vehicles or the overwhelming size of the place didn't take my breath away. I was there, on a place that was supposedly a myth, with a certain boy wonder who, with his mentor, had become legends (Did that made me a legend too?). I had a lot of thoughts rushing through my head. It was all too much for such a short period of time. Still, there was one thing that occupied most of my thoughts…

"Dick…" I said below my breath, trying to find my voice. "What's that big dinosaur for?"

"Funny" a voice that wasn't Dick's chuckled. "I was about to ask the same".


End file.
